Under a Blood Red Moon
by She's So High
Summary: au updated! The plot thickens as the fidelity of some one of the vampyre's comes into question . . . as well as the side they've chosen. Sometimes lies are told to protect . . . but can they destroy as well?
1. Default Chapter

Under a Blood Red Moon

By: Lady DeathAngel

Disclaimer: don't own them, don't sue me

Warnings: Not much for now. Slight language but that's about it.

A/N: Well, this is my first fic like this. I hope you all like it. BTW, the little background on vamps at the beginning of this is my own theory (sort of). It kind of differs in fanfics and original stories, but for my fics this is the history of vampyrs. As always, please R&R, thanks!

  
  
  
  


Vampires aren't the creatures that everyone thinks they are. To many people, vampires are blood sucking, night walking, un-dead creatures that can be killed by a well placed stake and repelled by a shredded onion. No one knows where they came from or why they're here. None but a select few.

If human technology ever advanced to the point that scientists and archeologists could read the ancient writings of long forgotten peoples, maybe they would know just what a vampyre really is. 

The history of that infamous race dates back to the beginnings of time. And yes, vampyres have been around that long. In the beginning there were many gods but only two of them held complete reign over everything. They are the ones who created the other gods, the earth, the plants and animals . . . the entire universe. And then of course, humans.

Humans were Aalius and Orpa's brainstorm. Because Aalius and Orpa were so vain, they wanted creatures that would worship them, praise them, and bend to their every will. Animals couldn't do that. They had no choice but to bend to the will of the gods. The same with plants and all other elements of nature.

Humans though . . . they were another story. They created men and women to be less beautiful than them and their children so that humans could do naught but marvel at their beauty. They created men and women less intelligent, so that they couldn't help but look to the gods for assistance. They made men and women infinitesimal on purpose, and they only did it to accentuate their importance.

This all worked very well. For a while. Men and women grew numerous and populated the planet. They took care of the animals and plants, taking some of the work away from Flora, the goddess of the plants and her twin sister Fauna goddess of animals. They weren't overly dependant on the gods, but they still looked to them for guidance and prayed to them and dedicated much of their hard work to them.

But the biggest flaw in the human makeup was the need for nightly rest. Maybe if Aalius and Orpa had to sleep as well . . . but they didn't. And they grew so used to being given laud during the day, that they missed it terribly at night. And so, they set about creating another race. A race that could worship them at night. Love them and praise them and do all the things humans did while humans slept.

That was when vampyres were created. That was what vampyres were for. They were never meant to be dark and evil creatures. Then again, neither were humans and neither were the gods. And yet, in the end the gods did become dark and evil creatures.

They fought with each other, squabbled and bickered and killed and slaughtered until only two deities were left, and all they had was minimal power. Aalius and Orpa were very bitter when they drew their last breaths. They used all the rest of their energy to curse humans and to curse vampyres. Humans became a petty, jealous, prideful race and vampyres became an everlasting race dependant on the night and needing the blood their pale bodies lacked.

It was, after the world fell into a state of spiritual anarchy, that things for the human race began to look up despite everything, and things for vampyres began a long, tedious downward spiral. The end result was a race of 'vampires' who were evil, vile things that humans wanted to hunt down a kill. A race of 'vampires' who sucked human bodies dry and shriveled into lifeless corpses under the sun or any other intense heat.

It's a good thing then, one can surmise, that neither human nor vampyre knew the truth. And it was even better a thing for humans that once vampyres knew the truth they didn't use it against them. Because the truth was simple. Despite their supposed handicaps, vampyres were the strongest beings in the world. Stronger than humans are and stronger than the gods ever were.

~V~

  
  


There was a legend about a band of vampires who haunted the streets of unsuspecting towns and wreaked havoc among the citizens. No one knew how long the legend had existed, but it was a favorite among the men and women who lived in Chesta. It was for that reason that Hilde Schbieker hated going outside at night.

Her older brother always told her that the vampires especially loved to suck the blood of small, helpless five-year-old girls. He said that they really preferred little girls with dark hair and blue eyes too. She didn't want to believe him but he was so convincing. Her parents laughed at her when she said she was scared. They called her an impressionable little girl who needed to grow a spine if she wanted to survive in the world. Her parents weren't very nice.

Her grandparents though, were very nice. They would laugh at James when he told that story and then her grandfather would say in his loud, bear like voice, "That's codswallop my boy!" and her grandmother would hold her close and say "Stop scaring your little sister James. I know for a fact that vampires don't prefer any one person over another."

James didn't like Papa and Nana as much as he did their father and mother. Papa and Nana didn't let him get away with as much whereas their mother and father only chuckled when he hurt her or took her cookies or broke her toys. Hilde didn't like her family. She only liked Papa and Nana. 

And then one day, Papa and Nana died. It was all so mysterious and frightening that Hilde didn't stop jumping at shadows for weeks. The town doctor said that they were poisoned but no one knew who could want to kill them. Hilde always suspected that it was James or her parents, but she didn't say anything. She was scared they'd kill her too if she did say anything.

Life grew steadily more miserable after that. James tortured her more and more often and her parents overlooked more and more. On the Halloween night after her grandparents had died, she didn't want to go out. She was scared. But her parents forced her out of the house. They made her put on a moldy old dress, gave her a red cloak with a hood, and deemed that her costume.

"You do know what really happened to Red Riding Hood don't you?" James had asked.

She hadn't answered. He'd do it for her after all. And he didn't disappoint.

"The wolf ate the granny and then he ate the woodsman. But you know what? He saved Red for dead last and when it was time for him to eat again her killed her slowly and chewed her carefully when he finally did eat her."

Hilde had shivered and pulled farther behind her brother. Only to be pulled back toward him by her hair. They didn't go trick-or-treating. Instead they attended a party in a large house at the edge of town. Halfway through it James grabbed Hilde's hand and led her out the back door.

"What are you doing?" She had asked.

He had wrapped a handkerchief around her eyes and then pushed her.

"We're playing blind hide and seek!" He said. "We'll hide and you seek!"

He laughed then and took off, leaving Hilde in the dark outside. She stumbled about slightly before going in the direction of a giggle. There was a loud laugh and she felt hands push her to her knees. She cried out as she hit the ground and then stood back up went in the direction she was sure she'd heard someone when she heard another sound.

A long, high note pierced the darkness and immediately Hilde was entranced. The sound was so beautiful. It changed into a lower note and soon became a song with no words. Hilde wanted to go toward it. She reached behind her and untied the handkerchief. Everything came into focus and she started walking.

She barely heard the sounds of the other boys and girls asking her where she was going. She only waved them off and continued on, a strange little smile lighting her heart-shaped face. She followed the sound into the garden . . . back out . . . into the woods. Deeper and deeper until she was in a small glen.

Above her the moon glowed a hideous red color, but she didn't notice it. All she noticed was the beautiful woman in the center of the glen. Her hair was long and so blonde it was almost white. It hung well past her waist and swished around her hips as she walked toward Hilde with a smile.

"Hello there." She said, her ice blue eyes glinting slightly in the night. "What's your name?"

"Hilde." She answered.

The woman smiled. "What a lovely name. Hilde, would you like to come home with me?"

"Is it better than mine?"

"Oh much." 

Hilde nodded slowly. 

"I want to go with you then."

The woman's smile turned feral. 

"Marvelous. But first, come here."

She beckoned Hilde toward her and Hilde moved forward, as if she were a puppet on a string.

She held Hilde gently in her arms and suddenly Hilde felt cold. Reality hit her quickly and she struggled against the woman.

"Let me go!" She cried. "Please!"

But the woman didn't let go. Not until Hilde kicked her hard in the knee. With a cry she dropped her arms and sprang back with a hiss.

"Little brat." She said through clenched teeth. "I'll teach you. I was going to make it easy on you. But now I'm going to make it slow . . . drag the blood from your veins so languorously you'll feel every single drop of it leave your body."

Hilde's bright blue eyes widened. 

"Are you a vampire?" She asked.

"Yes. Now come here like a good little victim . . ."

Hilde turned to run but realized she didn't know where to go. She felt hands close around her neck and she was lifted off of the ground and thrown backward. She hit the ground and all of the breath left her body in a whoosh. 

"Now that you have been properly stunned, I'll have my fun with you."

She grabbed Hilde by the dress front and held her up until her neck was even with her blood red lips and razor sharp teeth. Hilde fought furiously, terrified beyond anyone's imagination. Her own personal nightmare was coming true and she was scared.

"Let me go!"

"Shut up!" The woman yelled, slapping her across the face. 

Hilde quieted quickly enough and the woman smiled and then moved toward her throat, going for the jugular. Hilde winced at the moment she knew the teeth would pierce her skin. But that moment never came. There was a loud yell, almost like a growl and an equally loud scream of indignation. 

Hilde fell to the ground in a heap and then scrambled to her hands and knees and crawled away as quickly as possible. Once she was at a safe enough distance she saw what had happened. At the last minute a man had covered Hilde's neck with his hand and the woman had bitten him instead. 

She was spitting on the ground and glaring up at the man who was holding his hand to his chest. 

"Damn you!" She cried. "Why did you have to stop me?"

"You were going to kill her!" The man cried back.

"Maybe I've just always wanted a daughter!" She retorted. "Maybe I only wanted to turn her."

"Either way you're a monster." He said in a low threatening tone. "Now get the hell out of here."

She glared up at him a moment more before she was on her feet and gone. The man turned to Hilde then, and she saw his face for the first time. His almost-purple eyes gazed down at her kindly. His lips were turned up in a smile. Hilde was shocked to see that a long braid hung over his shoulder. 

She stood up slowly and walked toward him. 

"Are you an angel?" She asked. 

He laughed. "Sorry hun, but I'm definitely no angel."

She flung her arms around his waist. "You are now. You saved me. You're my angel."

He didn't hug her back, but she didn't care. She was just so glad that he had been there to help her. She wanted to cry because she still felt scared, even though it was all over. She held them back though, because she hated crying.

"I'm not an angel." He said again.

She let him go and looked up at him. 

"Are you one of them? Are you a vampire?"

He hesitated and then nodded. 

"Why don't you kill me then? That's what you're supposed to do, right?"

He chuckled. "Not all vampires are murderers. Some of us are good guys."

She grinned. "Well, if you aren't a murderer and since you saved me, you can still be my angel, right?"

He looked like he wanted to argue but then just shook his head and smiled.

"All right then. I'll be your angel."

She smiled wider and slipped her hand into his. 

"Good."

"Good." He agreed. "Now let's get you back."

Hilde frowned because she didn't want to go back but then she allowed him to tug her along. They got to the edge of the forest and heard yelling and shouting. A few more yells and shouts later and Hilde realized they were looking for her.

"You'd better go on." Her angel said. 

She turned to look up at him once more. 

"I don't want to."

"You have to." 

She bit her lip and then nodded. 

"Okay. But will I ever see you again?"

He shook his head.

"Well can you give me something to remember you by?" She asked.

He smiled down at her and reached behind his neck and unclasped something. He knelt in front of Hilde and redid the clasp so that it hung on her neck and down her chest. She picked it up in her small palm and saw that it was a teardrop shaped almost-purple crystal.

"I may be back for that someday." He warned with a grin.

She smiled back at him before turning to leave. She stopped to wave but he was already gone. She tucked the necklace back into her dress and then turned. Time to go back. And this time she could tell James that she knew for a fact they didn't all prefer dark haired little girls.

  
  


A/N: okay, so what'd you think? I've got chapter two finished and I may just post this one soon, depending on the kind of response I get for this. Anyway, please review. ^.~ Ja!


	2. Chapter One

Under a Blood Red Moon

By: Lady DeathAngel

Disclaimer: don't own them, don't sue me

Warnings: slight language and a tad bit of vamp violence at the beginning (not really but just to be safe I thought I'd mention it ^^;)

A/N: Well, here's the first chapter (the other was a prologue). This takes place fifteen years after the aforementioned prologue, and the girl at the beginning isn't anybody anyone knows. Heck, I don't even know her . . . ^^; Anyway, please review. Thanks!

  
  
  
  


It was the middle of July and a cold wind was blowing. It blew through the trees, it blew over the water of the lake centered in the park. It rifled the hair of the young woman walking home late at night.

"Damn that man. I knew I should have had him drive me . . ." She muttered, shivering. 

Why was it so cold? She didn't know, but she was frightened. She quickened her pace. 

"Only two more blocks and you're home." She told herself. "Two more blocks . . ."

She stopped suddenly at a faint hissing noise. "Who's there?" She called.

No one answered.

She started walking again, biting her lip and looking all around her in an attempt to make sure that no one was following her. She had just started to breathe easily, one more block to go, when she heard the hiss again. Only this time it formed words.

"So hungry." 

She stopped. "Who's there?"

"I'm so hungry. I smell blood. Whose blood is it?"

"Who are you? Where are you?" She cried, stumbling backward.

"Is it yours?" The voice asked right at her ear.

She opened her mouth to shriek but a cold hand closed over her lips, trapping the sound. She fought the arms that held her, but they were too strong. She felt two pricks at her throat, felt her blood being drained from her veins. It hurt so bad. And then she was too weak to fight. Too weak to scream. Too weak to do anything but fall backwards and allow the figure to carry her into the dark alley way.

  
  


~*~

  
  


Phones were ringing off the hook at the police station. Everyone had a different account of what they'd seen the night before. Everyone had a story. It was getting annoying.

"Hey Noin, Une wants to see you now." 

Lucrezia Noin nodded at the young police officer who'd called her and headed toward the Chief of Police's office. When she got there it was to hear Lady Une on the phone.

"Yes I know and we're very sorry about your loss Ma'am, but . . . of course we're doing everything we can but these things take time . . . yes we'll let you know if we have a lead . . . right, goodbye."

"Another hysterical mama?" Noin asked, leaning against the doorway. 

Une nodded. "Another hysterical mama." She affirmed. 

She took her time shuffling some papers at her desk before she finally got to the point.

"We need an officer to go the morgue at Lansview Hospital and examine the bodies one more time. Look for anything that's similar, besides the obvious, and write a more thorough report."

Noin made a face. "Doctor Po is *not* going to be happy."

Une's grin was solemn. "I know that. But we need to do this if we want to get any closer to catching our culprit. In the meantime, I've got officers patrolling the streets 24/7/365 until we catch our man or woman."

"Or creature of the night." Noin added with a grin.

Une sighed and rubbed at her temples with her fingers. "That's all bullshit Noin and you know it. Vampires in Emerald Springs? Who came up with that story anyway?"

Noin thought for a moment before snapping her fingers. "The Rising Sun."

Une shook her head in disbelief. "No possible way, Noin. That's Quatre's paper isn't it?" 

Noin snorted. "The Rising Sun? Hell no. That's his competitor. He runs the Emerald Springs Central. Oldest running newspaper in the county."

"How'd that story get out anyway? Mayor Darlian specifically said to the police force and hospital that if any of this got out . . ."

Noin shrugged. "Don't know. But he's probably got his panties in a real twist over it."

~*~

"Oh my God Trant! Did you hear about what happened? I mean, did you hear about the vampires?"

Hilde glanced sideways at her best friend Trant and the blonde haired, big chested girl in front of him. She was gazing up at him raptly, her eyes wide and shining. While Trant probably thought it was cute, Hilde thought she might gag if she had to listen to another word. She had a business to run and she didn't have time to listen to stupid rumors about vampires.

"They found the fourth victim last night! She was all carved up and . . . and . . . and *bloodless*! What if I'm next Trant? Oh God, I can't stand it!"

Next thing everyone at Hilde's garage knew, Trant had taken the girl into his arms and was using a means of comfort as an excuse to cop a feel. Hilde raised an eyebrow at him from behind the girl's back. He only grinned at her.

She made a face and started to walk toward the small house she owned about fifty yards west of the garage. Vampires. What a hoax. Maybe once upon a time she thought they were real. She'd been completely convinced that she'd encountered one when she was little. Her parents and brother and about ten therapists and psychologists managed to convince her differently.

Just then she heard a loud shout and groaned.

"Hey Hilde! What's shakin'?"

She turned around with a sigh.

"Duo, what are you doing here?"

Duo Maxwell smiled at her and shrugged. 

"Aw come on, do I need an excuse to visit a friend of mine?"

She raised an eyebrow and watched him walk toward her.

"We're friends? Since when?"

His smile took on a slightly more crooked edge. 

"Okay, okay. I was checking up on ya. You know, as your competitor it's my job to make sure you don't die and leave me to clean up after you."

"Trant would take care of that." She said, turning and walking.

He fell into step next to her and glanced over his shoulder at Trant who was currently in the process of asking the bimbo out on a date.

"You trust him with that, huh?"

She glanced over her shoulder then laughed and shook her head. 

"Okay, maybe not. But why would you clean up after me?"

He stretched and then laced his hands behind his neck.

"Well, you know, all of your faithful customers would be in desperate need of a tune-up and where would they go? To my garage of course and the next thing you know . . . BAM! Me and Heero are swamped!"

She laughed again. "Most people would think of that as a good thing. Your business would boom."

He laughed with her. "True, true. But I think of it as the loss of a good competitor. And a cute one at that."

She blushed and then walked into the back door of her house. 

"Well, no worries. I get the feeling that whoever's out there isn't going to be after me. Besides, I can defend myself."

He looked at her skeptically. "You? You're two foot nothing! How could you stop a killer?"

"I'm five feet and four inches, thank you very much. And I'm a black belt. I can handle it."

"Well, if you say so . . ."

She stuck her tongue out at him. Before walking into the kitchen and grabbing a water bottle out of her fridge.

"Want anything?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm fine."

She shrugged and took a swig out of the bottle before leaning her hip on the counter and turning toward him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure that was the only reason you wanted to talk to me? To tell me to be careful? Because Trant tells me that often enough."

"When he's not feeling some girl up, you mean." Duo said.

Hilde grinned. 

"That's true."

He was quiet for a moment, obviously thinking about what he wanted to say next before he finally started talking. 

"Look, you know that people are really freaking out about these attacks. The police have been working non-stop and they still haven't found a single lead."

Hilde nodded. "Yeah I know. So?"

"Well, since Mayor Darlian's such a spaz, he started looking for someone to watch over his daughter."

"A bodyguard for the Mayor's daughter, huh? Sounds interesting."

Duo chuckled. "Yeah, that's what Heero said too."

Hilde's eyes widened and she stared at Duo incredulously.

"Don't tell me that he . . ."

Duo nodded. "Yep. And he's got quite the resume and a reputation any man would be hard-pressed to ignore. It was pretty much no contest."

Hilde fought hard to take it all in. Almost ever since she'd arrived in Emerald Springs a few years ago, the name Heero Yuy and the word mechanic had been synonymous. The same thing went for Duo. Now he was playing babysitter to some political figurehead's spawn? That didn't sound like Heero to Hilde, but she didn't know him that well, so she guessed he could have been the knight in shining armor type . . .

"Anyway, he's thinking of taking the job full time." Duo continued. "And I'm the only thing holding him back. So I came here to ask if, you know, you had any positions open."

Hilde's jaw went slack and Duo smiled sheepishly.

"I've been told I'm a really good with my hands, if that helps."

"Um . . . I . . . guess . . . so . . ."

Duo grinned.

"Great! I'll start on Monday, is that good?"

Hilde could only manage to nod slowly.

~*~

  
  


Sally Po pushed her hair out of her face with a heavy sigh. It had been a very long day. What with the Rising Sun spreading rumors about vampires and the police swarming around the hospital looking for clues . . . she really wished they'd leave well enough alone. Besides, all the police wasting their time snooping around her hospital should have been out looking for the killer. He was still on the loose after all, and no one was safe.

"Doctor Po! A Lieutenant Noin is here to see you." A young intern said, running into her office.

Sally nodded tiredly. "Send her in."

The intern nodded and then ran off. A few minutes later Noin walked in. 

"What is it this time?" Sally asked in annoyance. "You and your police force have already torn my hospital asunder looking for clues, what do you want now?"

"You know this is necessary." Noin said. "After all, the second attack happened here and the latest attack happened just a few blocks away from here."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Noin shook her head. "Look, I don't have time for this. All I came here for is to examine the bodies. Do you still have them?"

Sally nodded and couldn't suppress a shudder. "Yes, they're in the morgue. I'll take you."

They walked through the hospital silently, the air between them crackling with unfriendly energy. Lucrezia Noin and Sally Po had never really gotten along. They'd graduated from the same highschool, grown up together, and they still could barely stand each other. They were both very absorbed in their jobs though, and that only made things between them rougher. Especially when things like this happened.

They entered the morgue, surprising Ben, the coroner. "Sorry Ben." Sally said. "But do you think you could take out the victims of the attacks? Lieutenant Noin here would like to examine them."

He nodded. "Sure." 

He hurried off to get them. Noin watched him go with an amused look.

"Jumpy little fellow, isn't he?"

Sally glanced sideways at the dark haired woman. "You would be too, if you were constantly surrounded by dead bodies."

Noin thought about that while Ben brought out the bodies, one by one.

"As far as you know, were there any traces of anything on the bodies?" Noin asked, slipping on latex rubber gloves and bending over the first dead girl. 

Ben shook his head. "Nothing. Then again, the police ordered me not to touch anything, so I didn't get a good look at them before I covered them up and put them away."

Noin nodded absently, and studied the bodies. She must have been bent over for nearly an hour, moving from body to body and making small noises when she found something.

"These bodies really are devoid of any blood at all, aren't they?"

"Yes." Sally said reluctantly. 

She didn't feel comfortable affirming that. After all, if that was true there weren't many plausible explanations besides vampires and she didn't like that theory. Didn't like it at all.

They lapsed into silence again, Noin poking and prodding, Sally standing and watching, and Ben fretting over the bodies. Finally though, Noin found something if her loud exclamation was any indication.

"Aha!" She yelled.

"What?" Sally and Ben asked at the same time.

Noin grinned and held up a long, strand of bright, blonde hair. 

"A clue."

  
  


A/N: Well, I hope you liked it. Please review to tell me what you thought about it. Thanks a bunch. ^.~


	3. Chapter Two

Under a Blood Red Moon

By: Lady DeathAngel

Disclaimer: don't own them, don't sue me

Warnings: More violence and language. 

A/N: So, here's another chapter. ^.^ I did a bit of character developing (Yay!), but there's still a long way to go. Who knows what secrets are lurking and waiting to be discovered? Well . . . I do. ^.^ But this is all you get for now. :p J/K Anyway, as I often say, read, review, and enjoy!

  
  
  
  


Relena Darlian sat in her stuffy chair in front of her blank tv screen and sulked for most of the afternoon. At around three she got up, went to the kitchen and ate a banana and then made her way back to what she had deemed the sulking chair. And there she sat until eight when her stomach grumbled loudly. She ate another banana and then moved back to the chair and fell asleep sulking.

She didn't wake up again until she heard a loud hiss just outside her door. She frowned and got up, grimacing at the way the muscles in her neck bunched together painfully and the way her back cracked as she rose. 

"Note to self," she muttered. "Once done in the sulking chair, move on and sleep in the sulking bed. You'll wake up happier that way."

Considering the fact that it was very late, she assumed that the hissing noise was just her neighbor and close friend, Meiran's cat Teeny. She wouldn't have minded watching the small thing for the night so she opened the door, waiting to see a white and black blur fly past her ankles. She didn't see the blur, but what she did see almost made her pass out.

"Oh my . . ." She blinked away her shock rapidly and went to slam the door on the . . . thing in the doorway. 

She was sure she'd locked it out. The door was closed and the locks had turned and everything. But all of a sudden the door flew back as if it'd been hit by a gale force wind. The big wooden projectile took Relena backward with it, until first she and then it connected with the wall across from the entry way, and following it into her apartment was the ugliest, *scariest* monster she'd ever seen.

"Mmmm . . . so hungry." It said softly. "Too hungry to change. Need blood. Your blood."

Relena was too dazed to register the fact that this . . . thing was talking about killing her. All she knew was that that time in the sixth grade when the vain daughter of a state senator had gone to the same dancing studio as Relena and pushed her off the stage mid-forte and she'd thought she'd cracked a rib? She so hadn't cracked a rib. But this time she was positive that she had.

"You so pretty . . . your blood smells so good . . . must drink . . ."

Relena gasped as she felt the creatures hot and rancid breath on her cheek. A long, slimy tongue darted out and traced a pattern on her cheek and she thought she would throw up. She barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief when he withdrew his tongue before his lips were on her throat and then he was *biting* her. She screamed loudly as he sucked at her throat. God it hurt so bad. It felt like he'd inserted red hot tubes into her neck and he was drawing out her life with them. 

She couldn't seem to stop screaming either, and the . . . thing was, if the brutal backhanded, closed-fisted slap he administered was any indication, really pissed that she wouldn't shut up. It needn't have worried though. Within minutes black and red tendrils began to swirl on the edges of her vision. Her body felt light and airy and just not *right* and her head ached as did her muscles, her organs, even her *toenails*. 

And then, as suddenly as the whole thing had started, it stopped. A loud sound rang through the entry way and the thing released Relena with an unearthly shriek. Warm liquid landed on Relena as he tore out of the room, sprinting past Meiran who had shot the thing. Relena could feel her own blood still trickling down her neck but amazingly enough it didn't hurt too bad anymore.

"Oh my God . . . Relena, are you okay?"

Relena couldn't even manage a nod. Instead she coughed and she felt something make its way down the corner of her mouth. More blood? Probably. 

"Relena, Relena stay awake okay? Please just stay awake. You'll be okay. I called for help and they'll be here any minute and you just have to stay awake!"

Relena cracked open her eyes and wanted to insist that she wasn't going anywhere. She would have, if she'd had the energy, insisted that she was too spoiled a bitch to die before she'd sampled all the joys being the daughter of the mayor could bring. But she was very tired and the most she could do was keep her eyes open and concentrate on breathing.

It seemed to take hours for the ambulance to get there. Relena didn't really know though. She heard the sirens and allowed her eyes to drift shut. And as she fell into the black void of unconsciousness she made a silent vow. Never again would she sulk when her dad told her something was for the best. Because damn did she wish she'd had that bodyguard there with her before this had all happened.

  
  


~*~

  
  


The next day the story was, once again, all over the papers. Every single tabloid, information magazine, webzine, gossip column, and credible work of journalism was buzzing about the latest attack. An attack that had happened only twenty-four hours after the one before it. Suddenly it was very hard to ignore the first paper that had reported that the suspect was probably an ethereal creature of fantasy.

After all, one eye witness said that she had seen a man sucking on her friend's neck and she'd been sure she'd seen blood on his mouth when he'd sprinted past her. Of course, all of this information was supposed to be classified and no one knew how it had gotten out. All that anyone knew was that Meiran was bound to get her ass chewed off by her irate co-worker.

Chang Wufei didn't disappoint.

"How the hell could you possibly encourage such disgustingly false rumors?"

Meiran, the only woman in the city who had a temper to match that of Wufei's, narrowed her eyes at him.

"I didn't *encourage* anything. I told Lieutenant Noin what I saw. She promised it was classified so it's not my fault that she turned out to be a lying bitch. Now get off my case!"

Wufei had opened his mouth to retort but it was just then that Quatre Raberba Winner, owner of the paper called to him. Wufei spared her one more hate-filled glance before he swept away. 

"God what an infuriating bastard!" She said loudly, falling into the chair in front of her desk and staring at her blank computer screen. "You'd think he'd show a little sympathy after what I've been through . . ."

"You know he only acts the way he does because he's attracted to you." A deep voice said. 

Meiran looked up into the bright eyes of Duo Maxwell. She crossed her arms over her chest and harumphed.

"So you always say."

"Only telling you the truth. You should take my word for it you know. I have known the guy for a while."

Meiran couldn't argue that. This town was small enough for everyone to know everyone, but it was different with the men and women who lived in Lakeside manor. With the exception of Trowa Barton, his sister Catherine, and their companion Midii, they had all known each other for years. Quatre and his sister Dorothy had opened up their large home to first Trowa, Catherine, and Midii, and then to Heero Yuy, and then to Duo and Wufei.

Since then, they had all been pretty synonymous to one another. Duo and Heero owned a garage together, Wufei worked for Quatre, and Trowa and Catherine worked for Dorothy's theater company. Midii stayed home all day, but she was seen often enough in the presence of Trowa and sometimes Duo and everyone knew that she was part of that 'group'. 

Anyway, point was Duo did have a point. And as much as Meiran wanted to think that Wufei was attracted to her, she found it awfully hard to believe. Not because she was ugly or anything, but just because Wufei wasn't that interested in women. Not that he was interested in men, but he wasn't interested in women either. And he certainly wasn't interested in Meiran.

"Well, as much as I'd like to chat," she said dismissing the subject. "I should probably get to work on the student submissions."

"I understand." Duo said. "I'm pretty sure Wufei'll bite my head off anyway, since I was supposed to meet up with him and Quatre . . ." He looked down at his watch and then grinned. "Five minutes ago. Guess I'd better go then."

He waved nonchalantly at her and then waltzed toward Quatre's office. She sighed and laid her head in her hands. She really hoped this meeting wasn't about her. Because it wasn't her fault, it really wasn't. She totally hadn't thought that that Noin woman would haul off and tattle on her ass. Hopefully, they would understand.

  
  


~*~

  
  


"Look guys, I can't stay long alright? I've gotta jet set ASAP. Heero and I both have appointments at the hospital."

Quatre nodded. 

"Yes Duo, I know. Heero told me. But when you go to see Ben make sure that you talk to him about the victims. He's been wanting to tell us something important for a long time but we just haven't been able to go see him. Make sure that Lucrezia Noin isn't around and I also want you to talk to Sally Po."

Duo grinned. "That should give Heero enough time to do his thing, no?"

Quatre nodded again. "But we can only hope it isn't too late. I wish we'd been able to reach her last night but . . ." He let his voice trail off and Duo clapped a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Quatre my friend, don't worry yourself over it. Shit happens. Take it in stride."

Quatre smiled at him and then waved a hand toward the door.

"Well, you'd better go. Heero's waiting for you and he isn't happy."

Duo made a face. "Yeah, yeah. Tell me something new once in a while would ya?"

And then he was gone. As soon as the door had shut behind him, Wufei turned an uneasy gaze toward Quatre.

"What are we dealing with here?" He asked wearily.

Quatre sank into the chair behind his desk and shook his head.

"I don't know Wufei, I really don't. But hopefully the information that Duo gets will help us figure it out."

  
  


~*~

  
  


As Duo and Heero made their way to the hospital, Duo's seemingly good mood evaporated. Heero didn't question the reason for it. He knew all to well just what Duo's problem was and it happened to be a roommate of theirs.

Dorothy and Duo had never been on the best of terms. The blond headed vixen had brazenly seduced Duo centuries before and then discarded him, only to turn him into a man of the night. Something not human. Something not alive. And he hated her for it. She hated him as well. She thought she'd given him a great gift and she hated him for not appreciating it. 

The fact of the matter was, if it weren't for Quatre, Duo would have killed Dorothy long ago. And no one would have missed her, maybe not even Quatre. Dorothy was a power hungry, evil woman who cared for only one thing other than taking over the night world. Her little brother. Funny way of showing it she had though. She'd turned him as soon as she'd been turned and now he hated her as well as all of the other ten, twenty, or maybe it was fifty people she'd turned.

Dorothy was the most infamous vampyre among the vampyre community. And no one dared stand up against her. Except for Duo. They hated each other with a venom that surpassed the hate that anyone in history had had for one another. And that hate had only escalated earlier that morning.

They had all been entertaining themselves with an old board game when Dorothy's banshee howl echoed loudly through the halls of the manor. 

"Hmm . . . sounds like her royal Bitchiness ran out of blush again." Duo had muttered, studying the board. "Too bad too. She's all the more fun to laugh at when her cheeks are painted redder than a whore's lips."

No one dared laugh at Duo's jokes, although they all wished they could. That was the thing with Dorothy though. She had this hold over everyone except Duo. That was just one other reason she hated him. It was a good thing they hadn't laughed anyway. Dorothy swept into the room a few seconds after Duo's comment about her cheeks and she looked ready to commit murder. 

Although, Duo had thought cocking his head to the side and thoroughly enjoying the fact that when she was really mad (like she was at that moment), her cheeks pinched in and her lips thinned into a fine line and she was really, *really* ugly, Dorothy always looked in the murdering mood.

"I can't believe this . . . this . . . this trash!!!" 

She was, they all decided, well past righteous indignation. Now she looked completely affronted, only they didn't know why. They all had their theories of course. In fact, most of them had to do with a certain braided young vampyre and the fact that he had probably done something horrendously funny to Dorothy (at the old crone's expense to be sure), but that wasn't the case at all. It was something far more serious although Duo didn't seem to think so.

"If you mean the fact that the entire town thinks that vampires are running amuck and killing poor, young, innocent girls, don't look at me. Heero was always the one with the jailbait fetish."

She narrowed her eyes at him, an unholy flame igniting in their grey depths. A flame that only lit when Duo was around.

"I'm glad you think this is amusing Maxwell, but I assure you it is not. How dare they spread such rumors? Such lies! No one should be able to get away with degrading us that way, no one!"

Duo had sat up bored and stretched.

"Face it Doro, you're just upset because someone else is out their killing people and getting the credit for it and it ain't you."

Dorothy was completely at a loss for words. She just glared at Duo and then glared some more. Duo just stared back at her.

"I can't believe you." She finally said. "You are willing to let them accuse us of such things? Like we'd ever do such things?"

"Well, let's think about this logically, shall we? In 1812 you killed thirteen people in one town and they blamed it on the seamstress because her second toe was longer than her first and you didn't care. So, the fact that they are saying a vampire did this is no surprise to me. Because I know that none of us," he spread his arms, indicating everyone but Dorothy. "Would ever do something so evil, but you . . . you are evil at heart and I wouldn't put it past you. At least this time they've almost got the right killer."

"Are you sure you aren't just trying to put the blame on me? Maybe you're enjoying some of your more base guilty pleasures?"

Duo's lips lifted into a smirk.

"Enjoying some of my more base guilty pleasures would involve one night of completely mind-blowing sex with a gorgeous woman, not sucking some poor girl dry and leaving her dead."

Dorothy didn't back down, however. She just propped her hands on her hips smugly.

"Then maybe you attacked the Darlian girl using the unknown assailant as a cover. We all know you don't want Heero to be her bodyguard. But eliminating the body means there's no need for a guard."

Duo had rolled his eyes heavenward.

"Think before you point fingers Dorothy. One, I am way to stealthy to go barging into her apartment, especially by blowing the door of its hinges. Two, if I *had* tried to blow the door of its hinges I would have killed her accidentally and you know it. Three, I happen to value my friendship with Heero and would never do that to him. Four, I have already talked to someone about the garage so it's not like I'll be missing Heero all that much. And five, I'm not you."

Dorothy would never win this fight and she knew it. Duo had had her pegged since the first night he'd slept with her. He'd known she'd had an agenda, he'd known he was being used. She was that see-through. He'd only done it because . . . well . . . it'd been so long he couldn't remember. But ever since they're first meetings he'd been able to read her like a 'See-Cat-See-Cat-Run' book and she knew it.

So instead of confronting him out loud she decided to deliver one last telepathic blow.

All of a sudden Duo's mind was filled with images. He heard screams in his head. Someone was calling for help. A small body was laid out on a rack, broken and bloodied and . . .

'I almost got her once.' Dorothy's smug voice echoed in his mind as he fell to his knees. 'If you push me to it, this is what will happen next time.'

She'd kept pressing the images of Hilde being tortured, maimed, beaten and whipped and . . . Duo couldn't take it, he clutched the side of his head and howled while Dorothy threw back her head and laughed. Her laughing stopped however when Duo's hand closed around her throat.

"You touch her ever again," he said in a low whisper full of sinister promise. "And I'll kill you."

But all she did was grin up at him and lift her slim shoulders in a shrug. 

"You don't let go of me," she croaked. "And I'll kill her first."

He dropped her and then left the room with a wave of his hand. The rest of them had all watched with wide eyes. Midii was clutching Trowa like a life support, her face buried in his neck. Catherine had grabbed onto Heero's hand and he didn't seem to mind. Wufei put an arm around Quatre's shoulders as he looked at his sister sadly.

The other woman noted the silence but opted not to do anything more. Instead she disappeared just as quickly as Duo had. And thus another day had begun.

All of them knew that something was different between Duo and Dorothy now. Dorothy had crossed a line and they wouldn't have argued if Duo had killed her right then and there. But he hadn't. He couldn't. As much as he hated her, he'd couldn't kill her unless he absolutely had to. He'd made a promise to himself years before to stop being a killer and he wasn't going to break that promise just because some bitch had threatened Hilde.

Not that Hilde wasn't worth it because she was. She'd been worth the surprise attack that Dorothy had sprung on him when he'd saved her the first time, and now all grown up and so pretty and smart, she'd be worth dying for a second time.

Anyway, Heero understood Duo's sullen silence and so he didn't press Duo for information or anything. Instead they just walked to the hospital, each lost in his own thoughts. Each wondering what would happen next. And each fearing the unexpected turn their lives could take.

  
  


A/N: Hmmm . . . well, what did you think? Please, please *please* review! I need the feedback. ^.^; Anyway, hope you liked it. The next chapter should be up soon. Bye! ^.~


	4. Chapter Three

Under a Blood Red Moon

By: Lady DeathAngel

Disclaimer: don't own them, don't sue me

Warnings: slight language and they talk about the bodies of the victims (not too graphic, but not for kiddies either) 

A/N: All right, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it! Please write to tell me what you think!

  
  


"How the hell did this get out? I specifically told you and your staff not to breathe a word about this!"

Sally Po rubbed at tired eyes and stared at her speaker phone. How dare he come at her like this was her fault? And not even in person either. Apparently he'd been too busy to come and see his own daughter in the hospital and had, instead, opted to drive the hospital crazy by calling every five minutes to make sure his little girl was okay. Now that he knew for a fact that she wasn't going to die, he had decided to let loose the cannons and start asking questions to which Sally had no answers.

"I assure you Mayor Darlian, no one working at my hospital said a word. If I was you I'd ask Lucrezia Noin who she told and who they might have told."

"I have already spoken with Lieutenant Noin, Dr. Po and she told me that she didn't utter a word of it to anyone. That being the case, the only other people who had spoken with Meiran would have been you or one of your doctors. Now I'm asking you nicely how the hell this got out."

"This is nice?" Sally asked, glaring at the phone. 

She couldn't believe this man. She had always known that people didn't hold her in high esteem. Word had gotten out about things that had happened in her past and men and women alike in this town just couldn't stand her. She'd worked hard to earn respect as a doctor and she had. But only among some people. Others still didn't like her and, she knew, never would. Mayor Darlian was one of those men.

"If you demean my authority one more time," he said in a low voice. "You'll be getting a call from my lawyers next."

"What more can you take from me Mayor? Huh? You've threatened to take everything from my small hospital to the clothes off my back more than once in the past two years. You ruined my life years ago and frankly, I don't think you can top that anytime soon. Not even if you take every single penny in my bank account. Now stop harassing me and stop phoning my hospital. I don't want to see you around here again. You can send one of your pretty limos to pick up your daughter in two days, until then leave us all the hell alone."

And then Sally disconnected the call and was about to sigh in relief when there was a knock on her door.

"Damn." She breathed. 

Why couldn't she get a break? All she wanted was a chance to get used to the idea of monsters in her backyard. All she really wanted to do was have time to mourn the loss of life properly, not have to face down angry politicians and irate parents who wanted to know just who had killed their children. She needn't have worried though. The young man who entered when she called for him to come in wasn't an angry politician or an irate parent. 

It was Duo Maxwell.

"Duo! Hi!" She said happily, standing up and moving to hug him. 

"Hey Sal." He said, embracing her back. "Long time no see."

She stepped back and smiled.

"Yes. A very long time. So, what brings you here?"

He grinned. 

"Same thing that's brought everyone else here. Just wondered if I could get a little inside info on our resident vamps from an old friend."

Sally rolled her eyes but didn't argue. Instead she just moved to the seat behind her desk and waved to the chair in front of it.

"What do you want to know?" She asked.

He leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Well, I was wondering if you've got any DNA results or anything like that."

She sighed and shook her head.

"No. Lieutenant Noin thought she'd found something but it was just a strand of hair with no matching results anywhere within a fifty mile radius. We have no clues, nothing to go off of and our one eye witness didn't have any solid information."

"What about the autopsy reports?" Duo said. 

"I'd rather not go into those." Sally murmured. "But since you asked . . . whoever is murdering these girls is doing a good job of it. No prints, no blood splatters, no anything. And they've killed so thoroughly . . ." She rubbed her temples and shuddered. "It's really horrible."

Duo sighed. "And you don't have any suspects?"

"No. None at all. No one has even seen anyone strange in town. That's why people are so quick to buy into this vampire nonsense."

Duo opened his mouth to reply when a nurse walked into the room.

"Dr. Po, there's a Mr. Heero Yuy here to see you. He said that he's been assigned to be Relena Darlian's bodyguard."

Sally glanced at Duo with raised eyebrows but he just shrugged. She smiled and stood up, moving to leave.

"We really need to catch up." She said as she passed him.

~*~

Quatre spent most of his day trying to ward off young men and women who had written stories for his paper about vampires. They'd written everything from long, extensive histories on vampires and their origins to personal encounters. By the time he got a call from Duo saying he had some important information, he was about ready to kill himself.

"Hey babe, you ready to leave?" 

Quatre looked up and rolled his eyes.

"What took you so long?" He asked.

Catherine shrugged and leaned against the doorway. 

"Dorothy wouldn't stop bitching about how Trowa and I need to clean up our act for the summer carnival or else we'll be the laughingstock of the town. Besides," she said with a grin. "She wasn't all that eager to let us go, especially since it's for a meeting with the bane of her life."

Quatre sighed. "You know, if she'd just let it go she'd be much better off."

"Maybe. Then again, if she lets it go, she could become even less human than she already is."

"None of us are all that human anymore." He said with a lopsided smirk.

"Yeah well, at least we aren't all out to rule the world."

Quatre laughed. "That's true."

He stood up and moved around his desk.

"Well, we'd better get going. Duo did say to meet him at the hospital right?"

Catherine nodded and looped her arm around his waist when he got to the doorway.

"You think the news will be good?" She asked as they left the building.

Quatre shrugged. "I doubt it'll be good for anyone but the towns people are probably going to be worse off."

She sighed softly and rested her head on his shoulder. 

"We'll protect them won't we? No matter what?"

Quatre smiled. "Of course. No matter what."

~*~

Heero didn't leave Relena's side until Duo called for him mentally to let him know that the meeting was going to start. Even then he was hesitant to do it. She wasn't resting peacefully at all and he couldn't really blame her. She'd been through a lot. He did want to know what Duo had found out though, so he made his way to the sublevels of the building the second he heard Duo's voice.

He arrived just as Wufei did. Trowa and Midii were already there and Quatre and Catherine arrived just a few minutes after him. They all picked out seats in the room. Trowa and Midii opting for one of the plush sofas, Wufei seating himself on the floor beside the couch, and Heero, Catherine, and Quatre sitting on a long couch. Duo himself was pacing around the room.

Only two mortal people knew about this room. Sally and Ben. They hadn't needed explanations as to why this room was needed, although they had gone so far as to tell them that it would be a safehouse for them in case anything bad happened. Other than that, no questions were asked. 

Truth was, they needed this room to conduct private meetings and the entire sublevel of the hospital was a hideout. They needed it for occasions just like this as well. Until they could be sure that they were safe, they had to have a place to hide.

Once they were all present, accounted for, and comfortable, they looked up at Duo. He paced for another two minutes before he finally spoke. 

"I don't get it." He said. "I mean, I'm just saying that right here, right now so that you guys don't start asking me questions because I *don't* know the answers. But I'll tell you what Ben told me he'd found after examining the bodies."

He took a deep breath. "They're missing their livers. They were drained bloodless. And the holes in their necks from the bites were made by fangs much larger than ours. In fact, whoever did it probably drained half their blood through the fangs before he or she got tired of it and just ripped out their throats."

Heero felt Catherine shudder and glanced over at her. Quatre put his arm around her and she leaned into him while her hand reached out and grabbed Heero's. He looked around to gauge everyone else's reactions while he unconsciously rubbed his thumb across Catherine's knuckles. 

Midii was clutching Trowa like a drowning man in a sea would clutch a buoy and Trowa looked sick. Wufei's eyes glittered with what Heero knew to be anger. Wufei, for all that he was an irate chauvinist pig, really did have a keen sense of justice, and killing anyone in cold blood compromised that sense of justice.

It took a few minutes before anyone spoke again.

"Doppleganger." Quatre breathed. 

Everyone turned to him with wide eyes.

"Not quite Quat." Duo said.

Everyone turned to *him* with wide eyes.

"Dopplegangers would never leave evidence at the scene of a crime and the cops found evidence. Thing is, there were no matches for what they found, and they found something different at each one."

"Different?" Trowa asked.

"Yeah. Well, not really. They found a few strands of hair at each one but they were all different colors. There was nothing else."

They all sat in silence trying to digest it all but it didn't really filter in for a few minutes. When it finally did they didn't know what to make of it. 

"Look, let's just all go home." Duo said finally. "We'll think about it, try to figure it out, and hopefully on of you will come up with something because I sure as hell haven't."

And with that the meeting was over, although they all knew this situation was far from it.

  
  


~*~

A/N: Sorry that this chapter was kinda on the short side. But hey, it's Christmas. And besides, I'll be getting the next one up in a few days. Anyway, hope you liked it. Please R&R. Thanks! And Merry Christmas!!!

  
  



	5. Chapter Four

Under a Blood Red Moon

By: Lady DeathAngel

Disclaimer: don't own them, don't sue me

Warnings: language and more descriptions of dead bodies (this one might be a little worse than last time)

A/N: I'm really sorry my updates are so few and far in between. I've been crazy busy lately. :p Anyway, here's the next chapter. This one doesn't do much plot developing, but there are some sweet (more accurately bittersweet) moments between Duo and Hilde. ^.^ Anyway, please enjoy the chapter. 

  
  


Hilde was having another nightmare when she got the call. At first she thought that maybe the shrill ringing was just another element of the monstrous dream, but gradually it filtered into her consciousness and she almost fell out of bed when she rolled to grab the receiver.

"Hello?" She said groggily. 

"Yes, Ms. Schbieker? We need you to come down to the station . . ."

It took Hilde about ten minutes to get dressed and to her car. She drove to the police station in a haze, wondering just what was going on. They hadn't given her any information. They'd just said that they needed her to go to the station. 

The minute she got there she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Another attack had happened from the looks of things, but just who it was she didn't know. Yet. And she wasn't at all sure that she wanted to know period.

"Hilde?"

Hilde turned quickly to find herself gazing into a pair of warm brown eyes behind wire-rim glasses. "Yeah, that's me."

"I'm Lady Une." The woman said, extending a long, elegant hand.

Hilde shook it a little awkwardly.

"Um, not to be rude but why am I here?"

Lady Une looked at her oddly.

"They didn't tell you?"

Hilde shook her head and the other woman sighed. 

"We need you to identify two bodies. We think they belong to Trant Marks and Missy Willet but we aren't sure."

Hilde felt as if someone had ripped her stomach out with ice-cold pliers. Trant and Missy? It couldn't be Trant and Missy. Trant and Missy were probably at Missy's apartment sleeping or having sex or something. Trant and Missy were most definitely not dead. Trant and Missy couldn't be dead. They just couldn't.

Hilde didn't hear another word of what Lady Une said, she just followed her numbly to a room in the back of the station. She nearly threw up when she saw the two bodies on the table. Whatever had killed them, it had been in a hurry. She'd expected them to be pale with no blood in or on their bodies. That's what the papers had said the bodies had been, completely bloodless. But these . . .

There was really no way to describe it. The bodies were mangled, and while there was no blood in the bodies, it was smeared all over. There were two large holes in their abdomens and it looked like their insides had been pushed aside while the killer had been looking for something. Their throats were almost gone. But it was their faces that sent Hilde to her knees.

She'd have recognized Trant's face anywhere. The lean, chiseled features, the dark hair, and the nose that she'd broken two years before that he'd never gone to get fixed. If that hadn't convinced her, the clothes he was wearing did. The black shirt and slacks that he'd modeled for her before going to pick up Missy, his dead date. 

"It's them." She said, her hands clenching into fists on her thighs. "It's them." And then she was up and running out of the room.

She had to get away. She hated it here. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare because it had to be. It had to be a nightmare. She stumbled down an empty hall before collapsing and sobbing. How? How had this happened to them? She'd been talking to Trant earlier that day. Teasing him about his taste in women, telling him that he'd better not stay out too late because she needed him at work . . .

It just wasn't possible. But it was true wasn't it? There weren't going to be any therapists or cruel older brothers to convince her otherwise. And no matter how much she wished that she could wake up and find out that it was all a cruel joke, she couldn't. Because when she woke up the next day it would all be real. And Trant would still be dead.

  
  


~*~

  
  


It was gray outside. The kind of dull gray that makes a person want to climb back into bed and not come out until the sun does. It wasn't even raining. It was just gray. And cold. And absolutely wretched. 

It had been four days since the last attack but no one had stopped talking about it, as was the norm anymore. It was interesting though. This time a man had been killed. It was the first time since the attacks had started that a man had been made a victim.

None of the resident vampyres could make heads or tails of the situation. They still didn't know what they were up against, and ever since the last attack they hadn't been able to concentrate. Well, not everyone, just Duo. 

Ever since the first time he'd met Hilde and he'd given her his pendant, he'd had a connection with her that he'd never had with anyone else. He could always feel what she felt and at the moment her pain was ripping him apart. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but among the feelings of pain and anguish and grief, he sensed that she was tired of people coming by everyday with apple pies and empty condolences. She'd probably just think that he was another pie bearing visitor if he went to see her.

Duo wasn't just feeling what Hilde was feeling however. He had his only feelings to deal with. The main one being hatred directed at, who else? Dorothy Catalonia. Ever since Trant had been killed and Hilde had slipped into a depression, Dorothy had been giddy. There was really no word accurate enough to describe the bitch, but giddy came close.

Not for the first time Duo wondered if maybe Dorothy had had something to do with what had happened to Trant. Of course, that would mean that she'd had something to do with the other attacks too, and Duo wouldn't put it past her, but he wasn't sure if that was at all accurate. Dorothy wouldn't have stopped bragging if she'd been behind the murders, and all she'd done was express her anger about the fact that people were accusing vampires of killing people.

Still, Dorothy was very happy about the suffering that both Hilde and Duo were going through and it made Duo want to strangle her more than ever. That was why Duo finally dragged himself out of the house and to Hilde's. He wasn't sure just how much longer he could hold out before he gave in to his impulses and killed Dorothy.

Hilde answered the door on the third knock. Duo's heart went out to her when he caught sight of her face. Her eyes were red and ringed with black circles. Her hair was hanging limply in her eyes and her big shirt and shorts were wrinkled. That wasn't the worst thing to see though. To Duo the worst thing was when his eyes locked with hers and he saw that their pretty blue depths were empty and lacking a sparkle that had almost always been with her.

She bit her lip when she saw him.

"Hi." She said softly, backing up to let him in. 

He walked in and watched as she closed the door slowly.

"I'm really sorry about the mess." She said. "But I, um, haven't had much time to, you know, clean."

Duo just nodded. He didn't know what to say. Being this close to her . . . he could feel her grief like it was his. In fact, it was the same feeling he'd had when he'd realized that he could never be with his family again. The same feeling he'd had when his parents, and then his best friend, and finally his little sister had died. But no one had said anything to comfort him back then, and he had no idea how to comfort Hilde now.

"I'd offer you something to drink or eat but I think all my dishes are dirty. It's been a madhouse in here. People coming in and out and in and out, eating and saying how sorry they are about Trant and then leaving this place even worse than it was . . ." 

"It's okay." He said, interrupting her rambles. "I understand."

She leaned against the door and tilted her head back. 

"I'm glad somebody does. The most sincere people who've been in here are a few of Trant's old flames and some other garage people. And even they don't fully understand . . . the most I've heard out of these people is 'Don't let it get you down. Move on, don't dwell on it.' but do you know what a load of bullshit that is?"

"Yeah. It's weird but I remember someone saying the same exact thing to me after my sister died."

Hilde looked at him with wide eyes.

"What'd you do?"

His smile held no humor at all.

"I tried to strangle her. And then her brother stopped me, although he told me once he only did it because he didn't want me to feel guilty over her, not because he didn't want her dead."

"Your life sounds almost as screwed up as mine." Hilde said.

"Could be."

Hilde shrugged. "Maybe." She studied him a moment before talking. "Look, if you want, you can leave. I'm sure you've got something better to do than be here."

Duo shook his head and took a step toward her, enveloping her in his arms.

"My schedule is completely clear." He said. "And besides, there's nowhere I'd rather be than here."

Her arms wove around his waist and she smiled against his neck.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Duo started when he felt her start to shake and the tears began.

"Hilde . . ."

"I'm really glad you're here." She said. "I was getting so tired of feeling so alone . . ."

And then she couldn't speak anymore. She sobbed into Duo's shoulder, and he held her tighter. He hated to see her like this. He wanted everything to be right for her.

'If it was up to me,' Duo thought. 'You'd never feel alone again.'

"I know." She murmured through her tears.

  
  


~*~

  
  


Relena didn't know what to make of her bodyguard. He was with her what seemed like twenty-four hours a day. Every time she turned around, he was there. Every time she came out of the bathroom, he was there. He was there when she opened her balcony to let Teeny in, he was there when she went next door to talk to Meiran. He was there handing her sugar when she made lemonade and he was even there brushing her hair for her before bed sometimes.

She couldn't say she minded it so much. It had been years since anyone had payed this much attention to her or cared this much about her. And it had been even longer since it had been someone so good looking. And damn was he good looking.

His name, he said, was Heero Yuy. He wasn't very tall, but he wasn't short either. He obviously worked out but his muscles didn't bulge like overripe watermelons, and his body was, in essence, just right. He had chocolate brown hair that went in all directions, even when Relena tried to tame it (something he'd only let her do once and had, since then, stayed away from her when she had a hairbrush in her hands), but it wasn't unattractive at all. It only lent to his mysterious and oh-so-sexy air.

He had a nice nose and wonderfully sensual lips, but the best thing about him, by far, were his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of blue. A blue so deep at times they looked black and they were the most captivating eyes she'd ever had the opportunity to gaze into. Relena honestly felt like she'd stepped into some kind of fantasy novel. First attacked by a monster, now protected by a god.

Aside from his name however, the most she knew about him was that he was good friends with Duo Maxwell, had lived at the manor with a few other people, including Dorothy Catalonia (a woman that Relena had been at odds with for almost a year), and used to work at a garage. She'd tried to ask her father about him, but he'd only told her he was very qualified and not to worry about it, lest she aggravate her injuries. Which, she decided, she'd be more likely to do if she was busy bursting brain cells wondering about her new roommate.

She could have asked him about himself, she supposed. Thusfar, however, they had avoided any real soul-bearing conversations. It was an unwritten agreement of sorts. Don't ask, don't tell, and we'll be happier that way. So, he knew nothing about her beyond the fact that she was the daughter of the mayor, and she knew nothing about him beside what he'd told her (that would be the aforementioned facts).

That was why she didn't know what to make of him. Had he always been so quiet? Had he always been so mysterious? If not then what had made him this way? Did he have some deep, dark secret? Had something happened long ago to make him this way? These and many other questions kept flitting through Relena's mind. Every once in a while reason would permeate all of her fantasies and she'd realize that she was reading way too much into things.

He was still kind of fun to contemplate about though. Only problem was, most of the time that she was contemplating him she also happened to stare at him as well. 

"You really like to stare at people don't you?" Heero said drily one day.

Relena blinked and then flushed.

"Um . . . sorry. I was just . . . uh . . ."

"Don't worry about it." He said. 

She chewed her thumbnail and smiled.

"Okay."

He went back to reading the same book he'd been reading for the past day and a half and Relena sighed and picked up her own book. It was, ironically, a horror story. For some reason, she insisted on finishing it despite her earlier encounter with a monster even more hideous than the fictional ones created by the author. She was going to have another nightmare she knew, but she couldn't put the book down.

Heero glanced over at the young woman he was protecting and raised an eyebrow even though she couldn't see him. Was she still trying to read that stupid book? Judging by the way her eyes flitted back and forth across the page and the frantic movements of her teeth against her nail, she was. He shook his head. Of all the idiotic things . . . 

He sighed softly and shook his head. She was insane, he knew. But it was kind of . . . cute in a strange way. She was also very pretty and smart. And a lot like someone he'd known before. Long, long ago. He decided to veer his mind away from that subject and instead turned back to the book in his hands.

  
  


~*~

A/N: So, what did you think? Please let me know in a review. It'd definitely be appreciated. ^.^ Anyway, thanks bunches to all of you who've already reviewed and I hope you're enjoying the story so far. ^.~ 


	6. Chapter Five

Under a Blood Red Moon

By: Lady DeathAngel

Disclaimer: don't own them, don't sue me

Warnings: a little language and that's about all.

A/N: Okay everyone, this story starts out with a trip to the past. Duo's to be exact. ^.^ Anyway, just thought I'd give you a heads up. As always, please read, enjoy, and review. 

  
  


Seventeen year old Duo Maxwell was happy for the first time in weeks. The bane of his life, Dorothy Catalonia, had seemingly disappeared. She wasn't to be found anywhere in town, and the local papers hadn't been crowing about her latest conquests and illicit affairs. In just twenty-four hours he was going to be eighteen, a man really, and he couldn't have been happier.

"Duo! Duo, Solo's here to see you."

Duo glanced at the door to see his younger sister Sophia bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. At fifteen she was a bundle of energy. Their parents joked that she'd started running when she was still a little baby and she hadn't stopped since. That was true enough. She was often in trouble because she didn't stop talking when she should, she couldn't sit still long because she'd complain that her bum was getting sore, and if she wasn't out riding a horse or climbing a tree she wasn't entirely happy.

Well, that wasn't quite accurate. She'd force herself to sit through an entire opera if Solo, better known as James to most everyone else, was around. She had developed a liking for him and she wasn't all that good at hiding it. Then again, Solo wasn't that quick at figuring things like love and girls out, so he probably still hadn't noticed.

"Tell him I'll be right there."

"Why don't you get your lazy ass out of your chair and come tell me yourself?" A deep and amused voice questioned.

Duo sent a mock glare at his best friend.

"Come on Solo, there's a young lady present. You should watch your language."

Solo glanced at Sophia who flushed to the roots of her dark brown hair. 

"Who, this little thing? Wasn't she the one who told you to bugger off the other day?"

Duo frowned. "Well . . . it might not have been her . . ."

"Oh get off it. I'm right and you're not and it won't kill Sophia if she hears a couple of curses, will it?" He turned to her to ask his question.

She shook her head quickly. 

"Well then, we'll all just say we're expanding her vocabulary." 

"If we expand her vocabulary anymore, she'll be talking like a Cockney whore." Duo muttered.

Solo laughed while Sophia frowned at him.

"So, what are you here for anyway?" Duo asked his friend.

Solo shrugged. "Thought I'd drop by and see how you were holding up."

"If this is about you-know-who, don't worry. I'm fine."

Solo sighed. "She's just really scary is all. I wanted to make sure she hadn't come in the middle of the night and murdered you and your family."

Duo laughed. "She certainly couldn't get all of us. I doubt it if she could even get me."

Solo lifted an eyebrow but didn't say anything else. Duo knew what he was thinking though and Duo had wondered the same exact things. They all knew that there were other women out there who would do anything for a lover. Why would Dorothy be any different? 

  
  


~*~ 

  
  


Later though, they would all know that the imaginary threat that Dorothy had posed was all too real. Because one day, out of the blue, Duo died. To this day he didn't know how it had happened, he just knew that it had. He'd woken up one night in a lavish room. One that he recognized. There was a woman there too. One wearing a face he knew all too well.

"Well, hello Sleepy Head." She said in a soft, sultry voice. "Sleep well?"

He sat up and then groaned as he was hit by a wave of dizziness.

"Oh, don't move too quickly. I did just bring you back from the dead, after all."

Duo stared at her incredulously. 

"You what?"

"Don't you remember?" She put a hand to her mouth in mock dismay. "Of course you don't. Silly me. They never remember. Well, I'll fill you in on a little secret."

Duo blinked and she was right there beside him, leaning into him and whispering into his ear.

"I made you what I am. You are immortal. You won't ever die. You can be with me forever."

Duo blanched and pushed her away with him. For feeling so weak, the woman flew a few feet away from him. She picked herself off the ground with a grin.

"I just love a man who takes action." She said. "Now all that's left is for you to mate with me. Then you'll be bound to me forever."

She climbed up the bed and made to kiss him, but Duo evaded it, her ruby red lips landing on his jaw. She backed away with a muttered 'Damn'. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked. 

She grinned and licked her teeth.

"You want the truth? Can you handle it? Wait, I don't care. Duo Maxwell, I'm proud to inform you that you have earned the right to call yourself a vampyre. Welcome to this illustrious, ethereal, and absolutely immortal race."

Duo sat up and backed away from Dorothy with wide eyes.

"You're mad." He hissed. 

"Am I?" 

She drew a long fingernail over the pale skin covering her wrist. A red ribbon of blood sprang up and Duo felt something hard and heavy land in his stomach and then twist it. What was this? It was a feeling almost like hunger, but it was so strong. He'd never been hungry like this before. Ever. And yet . . . looking at the blood he felt as if just one sip would quench this unbelievable thirst. 

With a speed he hadn't known he'd possessed, he seized her wrist, dragged it to his mouth, and sucked hard. Dorothy groaned, her eyes rolling. Duo didn't see her. He was too obsessed with the way the flavor exploded on his tongue. It tasted like everything he'd ever liked and a million things he might have, had he tried them. Finally he realized what he was doing and with a savage growl he thrust her away.

"Oh God . . ."

"Don't be angry. I've given you the best gift any girl could ever give her lover. We'll be together always Darling."

He glared at her.

"Never." He spat. "I don't love you. I hate you. I regret the first moment I saw you and every moment I spent in your presence after."

She stared at him for a moment before she screeched loud and long. A piercing wail of anger and sadness and maybe even a hint of lunacy. She disappeared after that, leaving her cry echoing in the walls and Duo's own ears. He passed out soon after her departure.

When he woke up it was to see a young man about his age gazing down at him with upset green eyes.

"I'm so sorry." He said when Duo woke up.

"I had hoped she'd never do this to another but . . ." His voice trailed off and he stared at the window.

Duo sat up and stared at the blonde man.

"Who are you?"

A smirk was his answer. 

"I regret to inform you that I am her," he hissed the word. "Brother. And I am also a vampyre. But I want to help you."

Duo looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"How?"

"First things first, we're leaving. I'm going to have to teach you these things the right way, and if Dorothy has anything to say about it, she'll lead you down the wrong path."

They left that night. Duo had a hard time saying goodbye to the town he'd grown up in. He had an even harder time walking past his own house, and then Solo's. But he had too. If the sudden hunger pangs were any indication, he needed blood. And Quatre warned him that in the beginning, no matter how hard you may have planned for it, you were a monster at the first scent of good human blood. The last thing, besides leaving, that Duo wanted to do was hurt a loved one.

So, he walked away along with Quatre. He knew when his parents and Solo and Sophia died. He felt their presence leave him as keenly as if he'd had an arm cut off. He was depressed for nearly five years after that, until he started to heal. He honed his powers and became one of the most powerful vampyres around. But he didn't love it. He hated every single day of it. And he vowed to himself never to pass his hell on to another innocent soul.

  
  


~*~

  
  


"So, you're still over there." Heero said from where he was sitting on the couch, holding the phone to one ear with his shoulder while he folded his laundry. 

"Yeah." Duo answered. 

"How's she doing?" He asked.

Duo sighed. 

"Not good."

"I talked to Sally yesterday. She said that the blood covering the bodies was the victims'. She's guessing this attack was hurried since their job wasn't as clean as the previous ones."

"Yeah. Listen, any more clues at all? Do we know what this even is?"

"Wufei's been scouring the library for information. He says he's got a theory, but he's not willing to share it yet."

"Figures . . . how's Relena holding up?"

It was Heero's turn to sigh.

"She's feeling guilty as hell. She hasn't told me anything but . . . I just know it."

Duo chuckled drily.

"Sounds like you've got the same connection with her that I've got with Hilde." He said. "Maybe Relena's The One."

Heero snorted.

"Not likely. What you have with Hilde is much different."

"Maybe. Anything happen that I should know about?"

"No. Dorothy's been a little bitchier than normal but other than that everything's pretty much normal."

"Good. Listen, I probably won't be seeing you or the others for a while, so let them know that if they have to tell me anything, they'll need to do it the old-fashioned way."

"All right. I can do that."

"Thanks buddy."

"No problem."

"Talk to you later."

"Right. Bye."

"Bye."

Heero had just hung up the phone when he sensed Relena's presence in the room.

"Friend of yours?" She asked softly, walking around to sit next to him.

"Yeah."

"Want any help?"

He glanced sideways at her and shook his head.

"That's okay. You should be resting anyway."

She made a face.

"I'm fine. I mean, I probably couldn't run a marathon but I can certainly fold some shirts."

He raised eyebrows at her but decided not to argue. He'd realized that she was pretty stubborn over the past week and she didn't bend for anyone unless she wanted to bend. So, he pushed a pile of clothes over to her and they sat in silence, folding them.

~*~

  
  


Meiran didn't know what the hell she was doing. She'd waltzed out of her house that afternoon with no purpose except to walk and she'd ended up here. She was insane for coming to the manor, but for some reason she didn't want to leave just yet. 

So she walked up to the front door and knocked, waiting for an answer. A young woman with curly blond hair opened the door and frowned quizzically.

"Yes?"

Meiran bit her lip and then smiled.

"Um . . . is Wufei around?"

The girl, who Meiran finally recognized as Midii, still looked weary but nodded and opened the door a little further. 

"Come in. I'll get him."

She walked in behind her and then watched as she disappeared up a staircase. She was uncomfortable standing alone in the foyer. The house was creepy. It always had been. It was never properly lit and the walls were covered in pictures of men and women with bright eyes that followed you wherever you walked. 

A few minutes later Midii came back. 

"He says you can go up to the library if you want. I'll take you there."

Once again Meiran was stuck following Midii. She was led up a wide staircase and halfway down a long corridor before they finally reached the library. Midii pushed open the door, urged Meiran inside, and then closed it. 

Wufei had his back to her, his head practically buried in a book. She wondered if he even realized who he'd let into the room until he spoke up without turning around.

"I was hoping you could help me." He said.

"What?"

"Are you hard of hearing? I said was hoping you could help me. You're friends with Sally Po aren't you?"

She frowned. 

"Sure. She stayed with me for a few months a couple years ago, why?"

"I want you to ask her some questions for me."

She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why don't you?"

He finally did look up at her, his eyes speaking volumes. She cleared her throat nervously.

"Right. Sorry. Fine, what questions?"

"Just take her this book and tell her to look at the marked pages."

He handed her the book he'd been leafing through. She took it and was about to open it when he gripped her wrists roughly.

"Don't read it." He said, his voice low and threatening.

She nodded, her dark eyes wide in her face. 

"Okay, just . . . let go of me."

He did and backed away. Turning to look at another stack of books.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk with me about?" He asked, picking one up and opening it.

She looked around, trying to remember why she'd wanted to see him. And then she recalled that she'd come for no reason at all. 

"Not really I just ended up here I guess."

"Uh-huh. Well, if you don't have anything else to say, you may leave now. And please give that book to Sally as soon as possible."

She stared at his back and was about to walk away when she opened her mouth and asked the first question that came to mind.

"Why do you hate me?" She asked.

He stiffened but didn't lift his head to look at her.

"I don't hate you." He replied, his voice devoid of all emotion.

She snorted.

"Come on Wufei, don't shit with me okay? You've hated me since you first saw me. You always find something wrong with me or my work, you constantly criticize me to the point of being cruel and I don't know why."

He was silent.

"I just want an answer. A simple one. Even if it's because you don't like women with names that start with M." She said, turning the book over and over in her hands.

Again he didn't answer. She sighed softly and turned to leave. Well, that had been stupid hadn't it. Dumb to the point of being insane. She had a hand on the doorknob when he spoke.

"I could swear you're her." He said softly.

She turned slowly.

"What?"

"You." He answered, still not looking at her. "You're just like someone I knew once. Even your names are the same."

She looked down at the floor.

"Is that why? Did she do something to . . . hurt you?"

He laughed sardonically.

"You could say that."

She looked back up.

"What . . . what did she do?"

"She died."

  
  


~*~

  
  


Quatre stared across the table at Catherine. Her mind was obviously elsewhere, her periwinkle eyes blank and staring off into space. He sighed. She'd been this way for a few days now. She didn't tell him what was wrong and every time he asked, she would say that everything was fine. A part of it, he knew, was due to the fact that she hadn't seen Heero in a while. Another part was the fact that Duo was still with the mortal girl Hilde and Dorothy was very upset about this.

He had yet to figure out where the rest of her problems had originated however, and she had completely closed herself off to him. 

"I'm worried about them." She said softly, suddenly.

He stared at her.

"Who?"

"Duo and Hilde." She said, just as softly as she'd spoken before.

"Dorothy is very angry. She wants to make them suffer. She wants Hilde dead and she wants Duo for herself . . ." Her voice trailed off and Quatre knew just what was going on in that moment.

Of all the vampyres Quatre had ever known, Catherine was one of the few who could see the future. Her precognitive abilities rarely made themselves known, but when they did they plagued her for days on end. The visions tended to sap her energy and she would be nothing but a walking shell for up to two weeks. 

"Dorothy, I need you to tell me what you see." Quatre said quietly, reaching across the table to grasp her hand loosely.

She gasped and started at the contact.

"I can't . . ." She whispered brokenly. "Nothing is as it seems . . . nothing . . . I can't . . . don't make me . . . no . . . why . . . stop . . . stop!" She yelled the last word, standing up quickly, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath.

Quatre stood as well and caught her just as she fainted. There was a loud murmur from all the surrounding tables and a kind-faced woman stood up quickly her eyes shining with alarm.

"Is she okay?" She asked.

A rather stupid question, Quatre thought. But he was much too nice to say so. Instead he nodded, thanked her for worrying, and told a waiter to charge the meal to his account. He made his way out of the restaurant quickly, holding Catherine protectively in his arms until they reached his car. When she still hadn't woken up he cursed.

He hated it when this happened. Sometimes she didn't wake up for hours and he always spent that entire time stressing out and wondering if she'd ever wake up. In the end she always did, usually with no recollection of what had happened. But he couldn't help being concerned to the point of being sick.

He laid her in the backseat and then got in himself. On the drive home he wondered what she'd meant by all her rambling. Nothing was as it seemed? She couldn't what? The questions were unending, but he knew he'd never get an answer from her. The look on her face had been of pure terror and she wouldn't want to relive it. 

And quite frankly, he didn't want to make her.

  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: So, what did you think. I feel kinda sorry for poor Duo. ::sniff:: Dorothy's such a bitch. :p Then again, we all always knew that, didn't we? Anyway, please review to tell me what you thought. Thanks! ^.~


	7. Chapter Six

Under a Blood Red Moon

By: Lady DeathAngel

Disclaimer: don't own them, don't sue me

Warnings: language is getting worse. I may eventually lift the rating to a solid 'R'. Other than that, nothing really.

A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I haven't had much time, even if it is summer. Anyway, here's another chapter. As always, read, enjoy and review!

  
  


"Those stupid vampires aren't real you idiot. They're just made up. You didn't see any. Mom and dad and the doctors said so!"

"I did to see one! He left me this necklace! He gave it to me so I could remember him!"

"You're just being stupid. Or maybe you're going mad. I bet that's it. I bet you're insane. That's why you have to see those doctors."

"No! I'm not crazy, I'm not! He's real! He said he'd be my angel!"

"Even if he's real, why didn't he kill you? That's what vampires do you know. They *kill* people."

"Shut up! He wouldn't hurt me, not ever!"

"Maybe, if we're all lucky, he'll come back and suck all your blood out and leave you to die. I sure wish you were dead. And so does everybody else."

"He wouldn't kill me! He's good! I know it!"

Hilde woke up with a start and looked up to find herself gazing into a familiar pair of cobalt eyes. She knew instantly that it was Duo, and the more logical part of her mind began to wonder what he was doing there still, and why he hadn't left yet. But somewhere in the back of her mind she saw someone else. She'd seen it in him that first day she'd met him, but she'd convinced herself it was just her imagination.

But she wasn't imagining it anymore. 

"You're my angel, aren't you?" She said softly. Incredulously.

He stared down at her with wide eyes.

"What?"

Hilde struggled to sit up.

"You're him. You're the vampire. You're the one who saved me. You're my angel."

Duo quickly shook his head.

"Listen, you must still be dreaming. I was just trying to wake you up from your nightmare. I'm not . . ."

"Don't lie." She interrupted, her eyes narrowed and brimming with tears. "Don't lie to me about this. I knew you were real. I sat through the tests I took the damn medicine . . . I didn't go through all that shit just so that when I finally figure out what's been right in front of me for years I'm told it's not real again."

"Hilde, please. You're just tired, that's all . . ."

"No! No you're him! I can prove it. You said you'd be back for it. You promised. And I kept it with me the whole time."

She yanked out the necklace she wore at all times from underneath her top, pulled it over her head, and put it in his outstretched palm. But he only stared at it. There was no spark of recognition, no smile or even a frown. Just a blank expression. She drew in a shuddering breath and grabbed it.

"I was so sure you were him . . ." She said, staring down at the necklace. 

He didn't say anything and she was too scared to look up at him and risk seeing pity or disgust on his face. Finally, he spoke.

"Hilde, who do you think I am?"

"This man that saved my life once. He . . . he said he was a vampire but he let me call him an angel. My angel. I'm sorry I thought you were him." She said softly.

He stared at her bowed head for a moment. She could feel his gaze on her. 

"It's all right." He said. "But . . . you should eat something and then rest some more. You've been through a lot."

She laughed. It was an almost maniacal laugh and it sent a chill down her own spine.

"That's quite the understatement." She said through her crazy chuckles.

He waited for her to quiet.

"I'll bring you up something." He said.

"Don't bother." She told him, still staring at the necklace laying her hand. "I'm not hungry."

"Then you should rest." 

"I'm not tired."

He sighed.

"Don't be this way . . ."

"What way?" She asked, her head lifting so that he could stare right into her pain glazed blue eyes. "I've just lost the only person who has ever loved me and I still believe in creatures that my parents payed hundreds of dollars to erase from my fucking mind and you're telling me to stop being this way?"

She could feel tears well in her eyes and her hands were clenched so hard she felt blood trickle across her palms.

"Why?" She asked after a moment. "Why did he have to die? Why couldn't it have been someone else?" The tears threatened to overflow.

"I-I don't know." Duo answered.

His voice sounded odd. Pained maybe? She couldn't tell. All she knew was that she couldn't stop the tears now. They were coming so fast and they just wouldn't stop. She doubled over with the force of her sobs and gasped, trying to draw in a breath. 

"It should have been someone else!" She yelled, holding her head in her bloodied hands.. "It shouldn't have been Trant! It could have been anyone else! Anyone! Just not Trant. Why'd they have to take Trant?" 

She felt strong hands on her shoulders.

"Hilde, you need to calm down."

She only sobbed harder. 

Finally he wrapped his arms around her slight body. She only resisted for a few moments before she pressed her face into his neck, her arms going around his body. Her weeping was loud and heart-wrenching, even to her. She felt like she was feeling her pain from outside her own body. This wailing thing wasn't her. Hilde was too tough to cry. But it was her and now that the gates had opened, there was no stopping the flood.

"I'll take care of you." He said softly. 

And in the maelstrom of her emotional storm, she gave herself up to the feeling of being protected and allowed herself to believe him.

  
  


~V~

The next few nights went by quietly. A week passed and then another, and no more attacks occurred. Many people, the more hopeful of the town anyway, thought that maybe it was all over. Others knew better and were waiting for the next attack. Some never stopped thinking about it and some tried hard to push it to the darkest recesses of their minds. 

And through it all they didn't know that the creatures that were causing such problems and hurting and killing so many were only biding their time. They were growing hungry again, and very, very listless. And they were getting bored with killing for food. They wanted to start killing for fun. And there were those in the town who were willing to assist them. 

Emerald Springs residents didn't know it yet, but life was about to become hell.

  
  


~*~

  
  


Meiran sat at her desk, tapping her pen against the book at her elbow absently and staring off into space. It had been two weeks since her strange encounter with Wufei and she still couldn't get it off her mind. It had been odd to see him look so . . . vulnerable. Of all things Wufei had ever appeared to be, vulnerable wasn't one of them.

She was still itching to know more about his past. After admitting that he hated her because of an old flame, he'd sent her away with the book in tow. She'd given it to Sally that night, but since then Sally had finished up doing whatever she'd had to do. Meiran still had the book in her possession and she was battling with herself. Look at it? Or not? 

She stared down at it. She was so curious . . . Not that that was anything new. One of these days her curiosity would get her killed. But until then . . . she picked up the book and opened it to the first page, nearly scared out of her mind at the picture within.

"What the hell?" She muttered to herself, turning the page and starting to read. 

What she saw made her eyes widen and her hands clench. What was this? She stared at the words and tried to figure it out. Finally, confused beyond belief, she grabbed the manilla envelope that Sally had given her. What she read there confused her even more, although it cleared up one thing.

Vampires didn't exist, but vampyres did. And Chang Wufei was one of them.

  
  


~*~

  
  


Over the past few weeks Hilde had gotten to know Duo's friends very well. It was funny because even though she'd seen them all around and had even spoken with one or two of them, she hadn't known a thing about them. Now she did and she was glad.

Her favorite was Quatre. He was such a sweetheart and he seemed to understand just what to say to help her forget what was going on in her crazy world. He was good friends with Duo too, so she saw him a lot. She didn't see his girlfriend, Catherine, as often though. The one time they ran into each other at the manor she looked sick. Her eyes wide in a pale face and rimmed with dark circles. Upon seeing Hilde she'd appeared scared out of her mind and had run away quickly. Quatre accredited this to a summer bug that a lot of people were catching. 

She saw Heero a lot too, though not as much as Quatre. The reason was simple though. He had a new job. He was busy watching over the mayor's daughter, making sure that no one tried to kill her again. Trowa and Midii were like ghosts that she glimpsed every so often but never really spoke to, and Wufei was always busy in the library or at a lab somewhere.

Hilde didn't think anything was really out of place though. She'd heard the rumors about Lakeside Manor before and compared to wild stories told about its residents, the actuality of everything was pretty mild. Besides, she had lived a pretty screwed up life herself. She was used to the abnormal. It was the normal that frightened her sometimes.

At the moment, she was fixing dinner for her, Duo, Heero, Relena, and Quatre. Catherine was supposed to show up but Quatre had mentioned she hadn't been feeling well. He'd looked so concerned Hilde had tried to convince him to go to her, but he insisted that she'd be fine. It seemed to her that Quatre was just putting up a brave front and that something was really wrong. But she didn't know for sure, and she didn't want to pry.

She poured the spaghetti sauce over the pasta absently. She was almost envious of Catherine. Quatre seemed so good to her. He obviously loved her and she wished she had that. Of course, she did in a way. She had Duo. 

He was good to her. Very kind and patient and always ready to make her laugh when he sensed her getting too depressed. But he was no Quatre. He was like version 2.0 of the big brother she'd had and . . . well, she didn't want to think about that. And maybe it was a little different. He did look at her sometimes. His eyes holding some sort of emotion she'd never seen before.

Still, he hadn't done anything. He didn't touch her too much and he hadn't kissed her and she couldn't help being mad. Mad at him for being able to care without loving when she loved and cared too much already. Not that she loved him. She couldn't love him. She didn't want to love . . . 

"Need any help?" Duo asked from behind her.

She jumped in surprise and then turned to glare at him.

"It's not polite to sneak up on people." She said.

He grinned.

"Well, it's good that I'm not exactly renowned for my manners then, isn't it?"

She made a face and then pointed at the salad bowl on the table. 

"You can take that out. I'm making the plates of spaghetti now, so you can come back and help me take those out too."

He sighed.

"You know, when I asked you for help I thought you'd just smile and say, 'No, I've got it'. I didn't think I'd really be helping."

Hilde laughed, handed him the salad bowl, and shoved him playfully toward the door.

"Get out there." 

When he was gone she sighed softly. Yes they were friends. Good friends probably. But he didn't love her and she didn't want to love him. How was she to know that they were both lying to themselves?

  
  


~*~

  
  


Catherine had really wanted to go to Hilde's dinner party with Quatre. She wished to the gods she had the energy to get up. She wished she had the energy to move any part of her body. But she didn't. Dorothy had completely sapped her strength and all she could do was lay on her bed and stare up at the ceiling. 

"Well, if it isn't my bedridden friend." A sneering voice said.

Catherine blanched and tried to sit up. She couldn't and a moment later Dorothy was sitting on her chest, shaking her finger at her.

"Uh-uh-uh." She said with a wicked smile. "You can't get up until the doctor says so. And the doctor hasn't said so."

Catherine's breaths became shallow and fast. Dorothy laughed.

"Oh, having a hard time breathing?" She asked, sitting herself a little heavier right on Catherine's lungs.

"Get off." Catherine growled, her eyes narrowing.

Dorothy's own eyes narrowed and her lips turned down in a fierce frown.

"Watch your tone. You don't want to make me angry."

Catherine's glare didn't let up, but she did close her mouth on the retort that threatened to push past her lips. Dorothy smiled once again and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

"So, too sick to go eat the little bitch's cooking? Are you upset because you won't be going with Quatre, or because you won't be seeing Heero?"

Catherine's hands clenched at her sides.

"Shut up." She hissed.

"Why? A little sensitive about the fact that I know you and Heero are . . . together and my sweet little brother doesn't?" Dorothy asked, her tone deceptively light.

"Just shut the hell up." 

Dorothy swivelled around until she was straddling Catherine's chest and closed her hand around the other woman's throat.

"Say that again." She said. "I dare you."

Catherine pressed her lips together, her periwinkle eyes clashing with ice blue orbs.

"Listen you little slut, I could kill you now if I wanted to. You're powerless against me and your little boyfriend isn't around to save you. So, you'd better show some respect for me and you'd better remember what I tell you. If you don't cooperate with me, Quatre will know all of your dirty secrets and so will the rest of them. And then they will all know you for what you really are. A worthless whore."

Catherine cringed at her words and tried to draw in breath. Dorothy tightened her grip for a moment before releasing her. Catherine rolled off the bed and to her knees coughing and holding her throat with one hand.

"Remember." Dorothy hissed before disappearing. 

Catherine coughed even harder, trying to hold the tears that threatened to overflow at bay. But it didn't work. She fell to the ground, covered her head with her hands and wept.

  
  


A/N: Don't you just hate Dorothy sometimes? I know I do. ^.^ Anyway, please remember to leave a review! Thanks for reading! ^.~


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